


white lie

by tiacup



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, DICE Member Oma Kokichi, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Growing Up, Orphans, POV Oma Kokichi, Snow, might add more tags if I think of any, this is my first time adding tags am I doing it right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27930994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiacup/pseuds/tiacup
Summary: Throughout his time, Kokichi had never believed in Santa Claus, not even once – in fact, he cannot even remember the exact, particular moment he had come to that realisation.Rather, that doubt had been in his head from the beginning. It was rather far-fetched, after all. As much as he would like to imagine the concept of some random, jolly guy, travelling across the world to multiple different locations in multiple different countries, dropping off thousands, no, millions of presents to deserving and undeserving children, being real, it wasn’t too believable.That forgotten day, remember it, cherish it, so that you can smile once more.
Kudos: 9





	white lie

**Author's Note:**

> hello, thank you for clicking and happy holidays! with this, I wanted to try and explore what kokichi would be like with d.i.c.e. and how his interactions differ with them in contrast to the characters in game, as I think he'd act more light-hearted and much like his true self when with them. this took inspiration from "snow song show" by sasakure.UK and DECO*27!
> 
> _https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnsZIBab1L4 ___
> 
> __this is my first time writing here, I don't think this is all that good, but it's a start. I want to work on my characterisation, so feel free to leave any criticism or thoughts!_ _

Throughout his time, Kokichi had never believed in Santa Claus, not even once – in fact, he cannot even remember the exact, particular moment he had come to that realisation. Rather, that doubt had been in his head from the beginning. It was rather far-fetched, after all. As much as he would like to imagine the concept of some random, jolly guy, travelling across the world to multiple different locations in multiple different countries, dropping off thousands, no, millions of presents to deserving and undeserving children, being real, it wasn’t too believable. Because of that, though, he admired the belief of Santa Claus. After all, how could he not? How did something like that start to be passed around, anyway? Rumours of such a person were initiated, at some point, and as quickly and easily as that, everyone started to fall for those lies, those lies that are obviously lies.

In a way, along with that, he also thought that Santa had it quite lucky, personally. To be a widespread, unanimous belief with such ease and prospect. Truly, what a man. 

That aside, though, that part within him would never admit out loud that, regardless, he still liked Christmas. The holiday season as a whole, in actuality. Kokichi Ouma was not, without a doubt, into the generic cheesy love and hope attempting to be conveyed from left and right – no, that was dumb. Totally, completely dumb. However, there were some bonuses that were to be cherished, that primarily came along with the season. As soon as it hit the first of December, the Christmas sales started; the streets would buzz vibrantly, bustles and hustles of people and voices. That made it easy to slip past unnoticed by anyone, in most cases, and if not, the one person who spotted him would most likely not care, given by how busy they were, or he could outrun whoever came to the decision to actually waste their time to desperately chase after him with ease. The second option just so had to happen, it appeared. 

With a huff, he shoved open the door to the barren warehouse, gritting his teeth upon hearing the screech against the rugged ground, and then as swiftly as he did so, shut it behind him. Tightly, he gripped the plastic bag in his hands and, eventually, saw a faint flicker of light underneath the similar work of graffiti splattered onto the wall. Then, without missing a beat, he skipped over the disjointed planks of wood, running over to them, and ceremonially plonking the bag in front of him. A grand total of four faces peaked up a him, two from their ongoing game of cards, one from their drawing, and one from their sleep, woken by the typical, dramatic introduction of his presence. 

“Guess who’s back!” He chimed, grinning, dropping to his knees and digging through the bag. 

“Boss,” Brushing his hair parted to the side, the boy put his chapped pencil to the side, shifting onto one of his legs, and smiling. “You are aware that you took far much longer than initially anticipated?” 

“Geez, Amari, you always come out with such tongue twisters.” Another jumped in, cutting him off as he smacked a card onto the surface of the box laid in front of him, smirking. “Snap.” 

“C’mon, Hirota-chan, play nice. Besides, I got us some goodies. That enough to tame you?” 

“Guess so.” 

“You always win, Hirota!” The girl across from him whined loudly, slumping forward, her curled pigtails bouncing, and then, in defeat, draping behind her back. “You rig it, you’ve gotta be rigging it!” 

“You saw me shuffle the cards.” 

“Yeah, what’s your point?” 

“Are you stupid?” 

“Hey!” 

“W-Wahhh...” Kokichi sniffled, rubbing his eyes, causing all heads to almost immediately snap towards him, “I can’t... Believe... All my precious, beloved members... Are ignoring me! Waagghh!” 

Instantly, he burst into tears, his voice wavering, screaming hoarsely and longingly, to which all faces stared back at him bluntly, no response at all, no emotion evoked within those warm gazes. It wasn’t even worth trying. Eventually, he sighed loudly, evidently exaggerating, and stared at his hands, inspecting each of his nails in detail. 

“Tough crowd, you guys are such meanies. No fun at all.” 

“What’s in the bag?” Tucking her long hair behind her ear, the other girl, now woken fully, shuffled towards the bag and reached her gentle hand towards the handles. Snatching it before she could gain a grasp, he snickered, and shook his head, wagging his finger in the air. 

“Nuh-uh, that’s cheating! You’ve all got to close your eyes. Before I show you, that is. Otherwise, what’s the point? You guys know how much I love surprises. Riiight? That’s one of the things about D.I.C.E., in fact, part of our policy. Surprises are a virtue!” 

Closed eyes now in front of him, briefly, he stopped to look at them all, and then smiled slightly – soon after, he rustled through the bag, placing each individual retrieval within the palms of their hands. Exhaling, he sat back, his hands sprawled behind him and his legs crossing, and then bellowed, “okay, now open them! That’s a demand. Do it, or face certain death.” 

And, yes, as he had expected, their eyes blinked open, and then, they sparkled eloquently in both surprise and delight. Candy bars crinkling in their fingers, they all laughed softly, and began to eagerly tear open the wrappers. 

“Count on you to snatch us this, boss!” 

“Thank you kindly, boss. What an unexpected occurrence...” 

“Man, I haven’t had one of these in ages...” 

“It tastes really good. Sweet, too.” 

Now, with all being said and done, in the end, it felt worth it, regardless of whether or not he was able to get that last bar for himself or not. A leader looks out for his subjects, or minions, or whatever, after all. Exhaling, he chuckled under his breath, and then placed the bag beside the fire with a quiet thump against the ground. “Knew you guys would like it. I got us food for tonight, too, so dig in.” 

“For Christmas?” 

“It’s no banquet, but, yeah.” 

“Speaking of, boss, we got you something, too.” 

Tilting his head to the side, hearing something like that, it ignited some sort of spark within his chest – which, he wasn’t sure what it was, precisely, perhaps a jumble of curiosity and bewilderment. He wasn’t into this whole give and receive thing, it felt too awkward, too open. Disgustingly so. Though, when he felt a hastily wrapped present dip into his hands, he couldn’t exactly refuse it, for both his sake and theirs. Peaking down, his eyes flickered between their expectant stares fixated on him, and the package in his hands. He shook it, not hearing much in response, and then, settling it down onto his lap, he teared at the paper. In response, he was then met with a black-and-white checker pattern below him, and he blinked, attempting to figure out what it was. Almost gingerly, he picked it up and investigated it, barely taking any notice of the tensity amongst them. 

Breaking the silence, one spoke, “It’s a scarf.” 

A scarf, huh? To keep warm? He didn’t even consider something like that being one of their necessities. 

“We acknowledge that, well, it’s not a mandatory resource, however... We figured that; it didn’t matter all that much. Because, we wanted to just buy you something that you would cherish regardless.” 

Why a scarf, though? 

It was then that he took notice of how, despite them all awaiting some sort of reaction or retaliation from him, he’d been knocked thoroughly into stunned silence for approximately thirty seconds or so, now. So, he figured that he might as well do, or say, something, anything. That’s what people did, right? 

“Sooo, this?” He asked, reaching behind his head to tie it around his neck, “this is a Christmas present? Aww, man, guys, I’m touched! Honestly!” 

“It’s no problem.” 

“You shoulda told me, though. I could’ve got you all something, too. Isn’t that the whole point?” 

“You’re silly, boss! You always do stuff for us, all through the year. So, we thought we’d try and let you know that, well... We appreciate it! And, we’re all always going to be together!” 

Kokichi didn’t let himself believe that that would be true, as inevitably, whenever he did entrust faith in matters like that, it never turned out too well. Yet, as he tucked the scarf in and hung his head down to try and observe himself, an involuntary smile worked its way across his face, and he laughed heartily from his throat. It sounded strained, somewhat, though he figured that was because, well, things like this didn’t catch him this off guard all that often. Just like that, that slither of sincerity had let itself show. He could, to some extent, make an exception for this. 

“You guys really love your leader, don’t you? Well, why wouldn’t you? I mean, you have no choice. Yup! If you went against me, I’d send you to one of the deepest, darkest torture chambers located in the depths of Russia!” He declared, and then, forgetting the weight of his words, he asked, “how’s this look on me?” 

“Like it was made for you.” 

He thought that, actually, it felt a little too baggy for his thin frame, questioning again, “really, now? Are you lying to moi? Out of all people?” 

“Absolutely not, boss. It looks perfect.” 

Scoffing, he shook his head. 

Kokichi figured, and learnt that night, that kind lies are just as important as any other lie. 

❆ 

Snow; snow was fleeting, yet, cherished by practically all whenever the opportunity came by. Maybe that’s yet another reason why Christmas was so important, to a majority of people, considering it was one of the key factors. It was somewhat rare to see snow outside of December, now that he thought about it. Though, regardless of the bitter cold and the struggles that came along with it, Kokichi simply couldn’t help but have a partial soft spot for the snow – after all, it could be fun. Snowball fights were, easily, one of his favourite pastimes, especially considering that he would always win, no matter what. Regardless of who dared to challenge him, he didn’t consider himself a quitter, in fact, saw himself in the light of being the stubborn type. That could also serve as a reason as to why he often had the audacity to put himself up to the most difficult tasks. 

He knew that, well, attempting to discreetly move into a recover an abandoned shelter in the middle of nowhere would be no easy feat, however, he also knew that he couldn’t let such a chance slip through his fingers, like that. It was one of the multiple responsibilities that came along with being a leader – and Kokichi wasn’t going to let himself fail, by chance, at that, either. Therefore, amongst the figment chill and the sharp breeze which, more often than not, felt like it was cutting into whatever skin and bone he had, he put himself to work, and through that, his ‘members’ had stuck by his side. Dwelling on it, they’d all planted themselves by each other’s sides, honestly. Not that they had anywhere else to be, regardless of that. 

Even so, with taking that into consideration, it was comforting to still have those who were in similar situations, no one to turn to, nowhere to venture away; it was ironic, oddly amusing to him, that the one glimmer of hope that they had discovered in months, possibly years, would more than likely evolve into one of their most major obstacles to be. 

With wide, glistening eyes, he glared down at the crunching of his feet and the imprints of his boots in the said snow, burying his nose into the faint heat of silk wrapped suitably around his neck. Thinking about it, it was Christmas yet again in a couple of days, wasn’t it? As the prospect entered his mind, he realised that, amongst the circumstances, Christmas had not been brought up once by anybody, yet – which, despite how he didn’t exactly care or mind, was rather peculiar, to him. Whilst wondering idly, he wondered if, perchance, the rest of D.I.C.E. had also just not had the time to ponder over such a subject. It was just a day for them to lay back, mostly, after all. Nothing too special, or trivial, like how the masses manipulated it to be. Humming to himself feebly, he carelessly kicked at a disjointed ball of graupel, watching it shatter against the bark of a tree. Good thing that wasn’t used as a snowball. 

Approaching the door, he brushed at the snow stuck to his clothes, and knocked – a knock, then a pause, then two knocks, and another pause, and then, four knocks. They’d all come to the conclusion that deciding on one specific knock would be beneficial, to them, despite having no key; as, if it was anybody else but them, at least if they knocked, they would have the seconds to react, and flee accordingly. Though, if it was an intruder, that would be another problem in itself. If they were caught, by anyone for that record, they would be put into jail with certainty. Kokichi wouldn’t let that happen, so that fate did not cross their minds that often, he figured. 

After some time, the door hastily swung open, and he then invited himself in, shivering and shuddering despite being inside, now. Plucking off his wellies by the doorway, he exhaled shakily, reminding himself of just how much work still needed to be done. Thankfully, some sort of luck was, apparently, on their side, as the gas still functionated to a limit. In comparison, though, there was no electricity, and admittedly, the place was a wreck, as to be expected. Still, he figured that, all in all, it was better than the warehouse. 

Some progress was an improvement, better than none; just a few more steps to taking over the world, just a few. 

D.I.C.E. came across as quieter, than usual, over the course of the previous weeks. He didn’t anticipate much as he strived into what would be the kitchen, at some point he figured, and placed the bag of limited groceries onto the side. He’d managed to get a hold of a job, a small job, but a job none the less. And, as much as he despised capitalism, he was still intelligent enough to realise that jobs give you money, and you, believe it or not, need money for food. Not that he was the only one contributing, of course, but undoubtedly the key factor. Who knows what he’d be able to scrounge up for dinner later, though? Along with that, he didn’t consider Christmas Day and its alleged significance, either. 

The group had grown over the past couple of years, now including three more boys, one of them only joining the past week. Slowly, he was starting to hear various murmurs amongst the two girls about the group feeling too much like a sausage party, but he wasn’t complaining too much about that. Anyways. 

Deciding to deal with the food later, he then advanced forth into the living room, well, which only consisted of a single sofa left behind at the moment, but regardless, it would soon be suitable for the all of them. He’d make it work; he always did. 

Slouching onto aforementioned sofa, he stretched out his limbs and let out a loud, pretentious groan, tears pricking at the cervices of his eyes. “Maaan, your boss is beat!” 

“You were only out for a couple of hours.” 

“Being a hard worker is tough on lil ol’ me, you know! Don’t be so inconsiderate. Or, I’ll tie you up in the basement.” 

“And what?” 

“I dunno, beat you, or something.” 

“Okay, then.” 

As the childlike excitement faded from his gaze, his keen grin faltered into a pout, and he wailed, curling his fists. “Everyone’s always so mean to me!” 

“Oh, the boss is back.” The newest member commented, poking his head through the doorway, clearly intrigued. “What did you bring back?” 

“Basic necessities. You know, stuff you need to live. Who would’ve thought?” 

The shortest, plus youngest, of them all, and had been since the beginning, exhaled, and wrapped her arms tightly around her, sitting in the corner with a blanket draped across her shoulders. Kokichi considered himself to be particularly skinny, mainly due to his weight – naturally, Miyahara would be even skinnier so. Noticing, and getting himself up, he dipped onto his legs and tucked the woollen blanket around her lithe body, cupping her hands in his and rubbing them vigorously. 

“Come on, come on, warm up, or Jack Frost is gonna get you!” 

In retaliation, she gave a faint, yet honest smile, laughing under the smoke of her breath, whisking into the air. After a while, he stopped, and hesitantly brought his hands back and smirked back, reassuringly – as reassuring as he could manage, that is. He was aware of the current atmosphere. It didn’t help that, in order to fund the cash they needed for an amount of basics, the vast amount of what belonged to them before now belonged to others. There wasn’t much to do, and that wasn’t much to begin with. To simply say that things were ‘down in the dumps’ would be an understatement. 

“Well, then. I was thinking of soup for dinner, again. I get we’re all pretty fed up with it, but it is what it is, and plus, it’s mainly to save stuff for our Christmas meal in a few days.” 

“Boss, Christmas isn’t worth it, anymore.” 

Upon hearing that, his head turned, and for some reason, that just didn’t sit right with him – not at all, actually. Which was strange, considering that, from the get go, he wasn’t too bothered with how D.I.C.E. felt about their annual celebrations when it came to Christmas, in particular. To hear that come from Ikeda, of all the people gathered in the room, however, was what mainly came as a surprise, to him. The girl who always had a wide, enthusiastic smile plastered onto her face, who would push through thick and thin, and was, every year, bursting with unmatched optimism when December rolled by. 

“Oh?” He questioned, inquisitively, “what makes you say that, huh?” 

“I just think we have bigger things to worry about.” She continued, persisting, “Santa, presents, a big dinner, I don’t know. I get it with everyone else, but what is there for us to look forward to?” 

To that, Kokichi didn’t have an answer, because, to an extent, she was right – compared to the majority, they were practically scrambling for a reason to latch on to, a reason to look forward to the holiday. Honestly, he wanted to tell her right then and there that she was wrong, that there was a certainly reason, that it had grown into a day for all of them to spend together, but the words stumbled in his throat, and melted on his tongue. He took the collected silence within the room as his answer, meaning that, despite how nobody else expressed their thoughts, they all must’ve been feeling the same way all along. He wouldn’t let it upset him, though. He wouldn’t act as if he thought he could read his members like the back of his own hand, and that he thought that, despite how cheesy and how much bullshit Christmas could be, they were all looking forward to this sprinkle of aspiration as much as he was. Of course not. 

It, truly, was understandable, though. Which is why he was met with her turning her head, and her continuing to glare out of the muggy window, her eyes trailing, following the snow fluttering to the ground. 

“Okay, then. You guys have all lost your Christmas spirit, then? Is that how it’s gonna be?” 

Silence. 

He paused, picking up on how his expression faltered, and grinned, snickering. 

“Nishishi, well, then. Alright! That’s what we’ll do, then.” 

Exiting himself out of the living room, he exhaled and slumped against the wall, his arm draped over his forehead. This shouldn’t be playing on his mind as much as it should be, no, nope, never, it wasn’t worth it whatsoever. He was, since he was young, a child, never bothered about such trivial matters too much before, until now. As he tangled his fingers in his scarf, however, he then figured he couldn’t help it – and, usually, he would leave these things be. Seeing D.I.C.E. collectively like that, however, meant that it wasn’t an option, even if he attempted to convince himself otherwise. 

As their leader, it was his responsibility. Somehow, he’ll do it, and he’ll show them. 

❆ 

Dark and bleak, was the midnight of Christmas Day – the stars, in actuality, were out, glistening light down in the fluttering and falling snow. It was rather desolate, abandoned, the opposite of what it should be, or what it usually would be, for most. His feet crunching, a fast pace, the warmth of his breath fighting against the brisk air, along with the weight slung over his shoulder were what only accompanied him. As he looked up, staring, feeling the mellow wind and the path gradually jumble underneath his feet, he noticed the streetlights fade, leaving them behind him. That’s when, and was always when, he knew that he was near, and he beamed, laughing, actually having managed to pull it all off.

Coming to think of it, a quiet part of him, inside, had always been like this. That innocent, childish wonder that he had supressed within him, consistently, came to surface occasionally, after all. Better to use it for good than to not use it at all, he figured. It would be worth it - in a way, it already was.

Stopping at the doorstep, he brashly knocked, the same way he always knocked, but before the door could open, he opened it himself, pushing it, planting his feet forward, one in front of the other. He knew where they all would be, as every single evening, regardless of whether it was Christmas or not, it’s where they would gather, together. 

See, actually, to tell the truth, he had always admired Santa since he was a kid. 

Multiple heads, like dominos, peaked up to look at him; he looked back. 

Dawned in a red cape, hat, and a sack, albeit, not as big as Santa’s, slouched by his back, he grinned amongst them, and figured that, just for one day, it couldn't hurt to be this way. For them, he'd do it any day. That's what he concluded. For his family, even if times were rough and unforgiving, that's what he wanted to do.

“Listen, everyone! D.I.C.E. is going to get presents from Santa-san!” 

And, with that, from that forgotten day, he saw them all smile once more.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!
> 
> I wanted to kind of keep the members' personalities quite vague and not state too many names, as lots of people have tons of different interpretations for them. I also would've went further into kokichi's thought process, and more developments but... I didn't intend for this to be this long and it's almost six in the morning! so, I guess I'll leave it up to people's own imaginations, as that is one of the things reading is about I think, envisioning stuff in your own head. merry early christmas!


End file.
